What information should I get from Ulster or KBC before closing my account?

Whilst this is related to UB & KBC, I’m sure it may apply to other banks.

Assuming you were a long stay customer of a bank, are there any documents / statements that you should seek from a bank before you close down the accounts?

I’ve downloaded all the statements I could get from the online portals, and I know there’s nothing outstanding with my accounts .. but before I request the closure is there anything else that you should be asking for, from the bank?

Maybe in the future you need to apply for something, and they only see a few months of bank history with your new bank? Should you seek something from the bank, or will any relevant data be held by the Irish credit bureau??

Additionally, should you be seeking a ‘subject access request’ (GDPR) for your data before you close out the accounts , maybe ??

You will probably get a closing statement from the bank in the post once the account has closed. If not, request one.

You’re wise to have printed off statements going back further, as you never know when you might need them (loan applications with new banks etc). The bank usually won’t allow access to the accounts through the online portals once the account has closed, in my experience.

You could do a Data Subject Access Request for good measure, but some banks don’t treat Bank Statements as personal data, and some do. I have been refused access to historic bank statements under a Data Access Request by one bank, and provided with bank statements under a Data Access Request from other financial institutions.

A Data Subject Access Request will usually throw up old Loan Agreements, Applications, correspondence etc.

The banks are obliged to hold their records for a set number of years, for example, Ulster will have to store every physical cheque for up to 6 years after it was processed by them. They also have to hold digital images of those cheques. That's to facilitate customer queries but also things like Garda investigations into fraud and criminality as well. They can't simply hit the delete button and delete everything.

When Danske left the South, they still kept a small team of people in the IFSC and also outsourced much of post closure activities to Pepper. I expect Ulster will do the same and the likelihood is it will be managed by Nat West in the UK with perhaps a rump of staff remaining in Ireland